By Kevin Policarpo
As California is preparing to deal with another round of wildfires this year, plans and strategies have been created to mitigate the damage of the fires. These plans include increasing the amount of greenery burned through controlled fires, increasing the manpower of Cal Fire, and improving the fire safety of communities across the state.
With the increasing numbers and intensity of wildfires in recent years, the state government has been advancing bills and other legislation to lessen the amount of damage caused by future wildfires. After the 2020 fires burned over 4.2 million acres across the state, it has become apparent that immediate and decisive action is required. Alongside this effort, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has endorsed several proposals to reduce funding for construction projects in fire prone areas.
Earlier this year, California Governor Gavin Newsom created California’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan. This plan is to tackle the various issues that communities and governmental groups across the state must confront to lessen wildfire damage. The plan has many aspects including “…an unprecedented $1 billion on fire prevention and suppression in the 2021-2022 budget.”[1] Alongside this plan is a $536 million wildfire package, which includes, “…more than $350 million will be spent on fire prevention and suppression efforts, including prescribed fires and other projects designed to reduce the vegetation growth that has fueled California’s most devastating fires.”[2]
One area that is important in the plan is to improve the status of all forests across California. Due to neglecting the growth of forests and other areas, which are near vulnerable communities. This neglect has led to an excessive amount of kindling for wildfires. Cal Fire plans to expand: “…its fuels management crews, grant programs, and partnerships to scale up fuel treatments to 500,000 acres annually by 2025;”[3] There is also a push for better management of forests on state-owned lands to improve their overall condition for dealing with climate change and wildfires. Finally, there is a restoration strategy created by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service (USFS), Cal Fire, and the California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) to “…prioritize and rehabilitate burned areas and affected communities.”[4]
Another area is expanding the resources and manpower of Cal Fire. In March of this year, Governor Newsom stated the State of California was spending $80 million in emergency funds to increase firefighter numbers by 1,400. This would give Cal Fire up to 6,800 firefighters by the time fire season starts. The governor also proposed giving $143 million to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to expand the number of available fire crews. To have enough manpower for 24-hour firefighting missions, “…the department would hire a total of 640 fire fighters (equivalent to 480 positions on a year-round basis).”[5] This expansion would also include additional aircraft and vehicles for improving performance as well as using new technologies to improve their efficiency. Among those technologies was simulation technology which could analyze data “…in real time, creating simulations of the wildfire’s potential movement and providing situational awareness and critical intelligence to fire managers on the ground.”[6]
Another area is the fire resiliency of communities across the state. With the increasing numbers of wildfires, “A broad range of communities are threatened, from small isolated towns in rural areas to major metropolitan areas along the coast.”[7] As communities have different needs, values, and risks, Cal Fire and other governmental groups will have to form a framework to create plans to improve fire resilience, and to work with groups that focus on fire protection to assist the various communities. The framework will include community engagement, landscape treatments, wildfire response, improving safety, and evacuation measures.
Another part of the fire resilience strategy is to lessen construction of new homes in high-risk areas. Due to the power and influence of local officials, they can easily push for more construction in fire-prone areas. With the increasing threat of fires, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara recommended that the state “…put pressure on local officials to be more selective about where new homes can be built…”[8]
Due to the increasing damage caused by the wildfires, “…insurers have begun pulling out of fire-prone areas, threatening people’s ability to buy and sell homes, which depends on access to affordable insurance.”[9]
To counter this response, Commissioner Lara has created several proposals to provide incentives for the insurers to continue coverage. These proposals include having insurance companies charge high premiums based on the losses they would be facing in the future. If the localities still want to build houses in the high-risk zones, then Lara states that the building codes must be enhanced. While the state does have a demanding building code, “…those codes only apply to the most dangerous areas.”[10] Finally, those homes will not get insurance via the State’s FAIR Plan. The FAIR Plan “…offers coverage to homeowners who have been denied traditional coverage.”[11] Without having access to the FAIR Plan, homeowners in those areas will have to make do without insurance. While a homeowner can legally own a home without insurance, “…those who have a financial interest in your home-such as a mortgage or home equity loan holder-will require that it be insured.”[12] The Insurance agencies are supportive of the proposals as they will mitigate risks in case of future wildfires. The Lara proposals are designed to discourage construction companies from building in high-risk areas.
If the state’s forests are healthy, they can provide multiple benefits. These include “…boosting climate resilience, increasing carbon sequestration, protecting water supply, improving air quality, cooling communities, providing habitat for wildlife, and supporting local economies.”[13]
Governor Newsom signed Executive Order N-82-20, which would force state agencies to come up with strategies that would protect up to 30% of the state’s land and coastal waters by 2030. In response, the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) formed the California Biodiversity Collaborative to create a statewide plan to protect the state’s natural areas. For forested areas, state agencies will “…promote landscape-scale forest management that supports migration corridors and biodiversity, safely reintroduces fire back on the landscape, supports native species that depend upon fire to thrive…”[14]
Alongside this effort, government agencies must attract private sector investments to create a market for wood products that would assist in the forest management strategy. In response, the Rural Economic Development Steering Committee/ Wood Utilization Work Group has been leading efforts to create a robust wood utilization sector. The Office of Planning and Research (OPR) has been creating a framework which will align “…the state’s utilization policies and priorities to fulfill the state’s climate change and economic development goals.”[15]
FOOTNOTES
[1] Kendall, Marisa, Newsom unveils $536 million plan to fight California wildfires, Published April 8, 2021, https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/04/08/newsom-unveils-536-million-plan-for-california-wildfires/, mercurynews.com, Accessed June 2, 2021
[2] Myers, John, California unveils sweeping wildfire prevention plan amid record fire losses and drought, Published April 8, 2021, https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-04-08/california-wildfire-prevention-536-million-newsom-lawmakers, Accessed June 2, 2021
[3] California’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Plan, Accessed June 1, 2021, https://www.fire.ca.gov/media/ps4p2vck/californiawildfireandforestresilienceactionplan.pdf
[4] California’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Plan, https://www.fire.ca.gov/media/ps4p2vck/californiawildfireandforestresilienceactionplan.pdf
[5] The 2021-22 Budget: Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Published February 4, 2021, Accessed June 2, 2021, https://lao.ca.gov/handouts/resources/2021/CalFire-020421.pdf
[6] McKay, Jim, CAL FIRE Uses New Modeling Tech to Outflank Wildfires, Published October 4, 2020, https://www.techwire.net/news/cal-fire-uses-new-modeling-tech-to-outflank-wildfires.html, Accessed June 3, 2021
[7] California’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Plan, https://www.fire.ca.gov/media/ps4p2vck/californiawildfireandforestresilienceactionplan.pdf
[8] Flavelle, Christopher, As Disasters Worsen, California Looks at Curbing Construction in Risky Areas, Published June 4, 2021, nytimes.com, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/04/climate/climate-California-wildfires-insurance.html#:~:text=the%20main%20story-,As%20Disasters%20Worsen%2C%20California%20Looks%20at%20Curbing%20Construction%20in%20Risky,climate%20shocks%20hitting%20the%20economy., Accessed June 6, 2021
[9] Flavelle, Christopher, As Disasters Worsen, California Looks at Curbing Construction in Risky Areas, Published June 4, 2021, nytimes.com, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/04/climate/climate-California-wildfires-insurance.html#:~:text=the%20main%20story-,As%20Disasters%20Worsen%2C%20California%20Looks%20at%20Curbing%20Construction%20in%20Risky,climate%20shocks%20hitting%20the%20economy., Accessed June 6, 2021
[10] Ibid
[11] Ibid
[12] Can I own a home without homeowners insurance?, Insurance Information Institute, III.org, https://www.iii.org/article/can-i-own-home-without-homeowners-insurance, Accessed June 9, 2021
[13] California’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Plan, https://www.fire.ca.gov/media/ps4p2vck/californiawildfireandforestresilienceactionplan.pdf
[14] California’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Plan, https://www.fire.ca.gov/media/ps4p2vck/californiawildfireandforestresilienceactionplan.pdf
[15] California’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Plan, https://www.fire.ca.gov/media/ps4p2vck/californiawildfireandforestresilienceactionplan.pdf